Winter-themed Baby Quilts

I've been trying to finish these cuddle quilts for two babies most of the winter.  I set myself a goal to get them done by March 20 when Spring begins.  I made it!  The second one was mailed off today.
I had the quilt complete by Spring, but was waiting for the stuffed animals to add to it for three little girls in the family to enjoy.

The first one finished left here March 17th.

I included an engraved silver plate spoon which is a

tradition I started for my younger nieces, nephews and granddaughters.

The spoons belong to my mother's spoon collection.

This quilt had polar bears and icebergs, polka dots, snowflakes (not shown)

and birds with caps and scarfs (a hint of Spring?).

One of my new dragonfly cards 

went in the box with it.

The second cuddle quilt displayed snowflakes, penguins

and hot cocoa cups--as well as the polar bears, seals and icebergs.

Here it is pinned and ready for hand-sewing the binding.

The seal, polar bears and igloo soft animals arrived today.

I put them all back in the same box with the quilt and this dragonfly card.

And off they went!

Winter projects all done.

Tomorrow is expected to be single digits...

Pre-Teen Boy Birthday Cards

The hardest ones to make if you don't have specialty die cuts and stamps, I think.  But, I got an idea for this design while walking today.  Where do these inspirations come from?

Pretty simple, but also bright and celebratory.

Neutral but more masculine with blue stamping

 and kraft card base and stone card front.

The colors on the balloons also do not "read" girl.

I glued down an assortment of balloons after stamping some blue confetti

as a background behind the balloons.

Then, I put the card front in a crackle embossing folder.

The tag went on with some mounting tape for dimension.

I tied the twine after lacing through two eyelets.

I even made some variations on the theme so

that I would have some pre-teen boy cards 

to choose from my stash of completed cards.

I have some boy birthdays coming up--but not soon.

I'll be ready!

Triple Treat for March

There were three card kits this month for our card-making session.  We missed Carol who had a dental problem before the impending blizzard.  Here is a sampling of the cards we made.

We started off with Sue's kit. Everyone loved her design.

The technique was also new to us.  We stamped the image in white ink.

Then we colored the details with waxy colored pencils in two or three tones.

We made some short, strong strokes of white for highlights

and finished off with dots of a white gel pen.

Voila!  Tres bien.

Next we worked on Bonnie's kit, another design that spotlighted black.

This time the coloring was in the negative spaces after

heat embossing the tree image.

We used some daubers and sponges 

to make a sunrise--or sunset.

The third kit, my design, did not showcase black.

I must have been too focused on Spring despite the advancing blizzard.

I had a new fern stencil found in Florida recently

and a newly purchased dragonfly die cut.

We started by stamping the card cover with a very faint script image.

Next came the fun of choosing one of four fern styles

and sponging with several greens.

The sentiment shape is a slider on the iridescent ribbon.

We finished off the dragonfly with Wink of Stella shimmer

and some pearl eyes.

The basket is now filled with lovely cards for several occasions

and we cardcrafters learned some new techniques.

And, yes, we had some fun too.

A triple treat!